Civil Rights and Statism

Several court cases must be mentioned. Each makes a point. Plessey v. Ferguson: Segregation Separate but equal is ok.  Brown v. Board of Education: Separate schools are inherently unequal. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County: Freedom of choice desegregation plan unconstitutional.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: Busing was appropriate. Griggs v. Duke Power Co.: Not only intentional job discrimination is prohibited by 1964 Civil Rights Act, but also employment practices that will have a disparate impact on applicants unless you can prove they are job-related. Steel Workers of America v. Weber: You don’t find the law in the language of the law, but only in the spirit.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was upheld as constitutional under the Commerce Clause in Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. U.S.

Thomas Sowell’s book is Civil Rights. Martin Luther King did not believe that capitalism could meet the needs of poor people and that some form of democratic socialism would be preferable. Feminist economics is irrational about comparable worth.

From the 2001 History of Liberty seminar.